Unit Operations
Units Operation
Size Reduction And Emulsification
Materials are rarely found in the size range required, and it is
often necessary either to decrease or to increase the particle size. In the
materials processing industry, size reduction or comminution is usually
carried out in order to increase the surface area because, in most reactions
involving solid particles the rate of reactions is directly proportional to
the area of contact with a second phase.
Mechanism of size reduction
Whilst the mechanism of the process of size reduction is
extremely complex, in recent years a number of attempts have been made
at a more detailed analysis of the problem. If a single lump of material is
subjected to a sudden impact, it will generally break so as to yield a few
relatively large particles and a number of fine particles, with relatively
few particles of intermediate size. If the energy in the blow is increased,
the larger particles will be of a rather smaller size and more numerous
and, whereas the number of fine particles will be appreciably increased,
their size will not be much altered. It therefore appears that the size of the
fine particles is closely connected with the internal structure of the
material, and the size of the larger particles is more closely connected
with the process by which the size reduction is effected.
The energy required to effect size reduction is related to the internal
structure of the material. The method of application of the force to the
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particles may affect the breakage pattern. PRASHER suggests that four
basic patterns may be identified
(a) Impact —particle concussion by a single rigid force.
(b) Compression—particle disintegration by two rigid forces.
(c) Shear —produced by a fluid or by particle–particle interaction.
(d) Attrition —arising from particles scraping against one another or
against a rigid surface.
Energy for size reduction
Although it is impossible to estimate accurately the amount of
energy required in order to effect a size reduction of a given material, a
number of empirical laws have been proposed. The two earliest laws are
due to KICK) and VON RITTINGER, and a third law due to BOND has
also been proposed. These three laws may all be derived from the basic
differential equation:
which states that the energy dE required to effect a small change dL in the
size of unit mass of material is a simple power function of the size.
Writing C = KRfc, where fc is the crushing strength of the material, and
p=-2 then Rittinger’s law, is obtained as:
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The Grinding:
In the grinding process, materials are reduced in size by
fracturing them. In the process, the material is stressed by the
action of mechanical moving parts in the grinding machine and
initially the stress is absorbed internally by the material as strain
energy.
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Surface Area Formed by Grinding
When a uniform particle is crushed , after the first
crushing the size of the particles produced will vary a great deal
from relatively coarse to fine and even to dust. As the grinding
continues, the coarser particles will be further reduced but there
will be less change in the size of the fine particles. Careful
analysis has shown that there tends to be a certain size that
increases in its relative proportions in the mixture and which
soon becomes the predominant size fraction .
The new surface produced was directly proportional to the
energy input. For a given energy input the new surface produced
was independent of :
(a) The velocity of impact ,
(b) The mass and arrangement of the sample ,
(c) The initial particle size , and
(d) The moisture content of the sample .
For example , wheat after first crushing gives a wide range of
particle sizes in the coarse flour, but after further grinding the
predominant fraction soon becomes Most reactions are related to
the surface area available, so the surface area can have a
considerable bearing on the properties of the material. The
surface area per unit mass is called the specific surface. To
calculate this in a known mass of material it is necessary to
know:
•the particle-size distribution
•the shape factor of the particles.
The particle size gives one dimension that can be called the
Typical Dimension, Dp of a particle. This has now to be related
to the surface area. We can write, arbitrarily:
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Where
Vp is the volume of the particle.
Ap is the area of the particle surface
Dp is the typical dimension of the particle
q is factor of the particle geometries.
And , The ratio of surface area to volume is:
Ap/Vp = (6q/p)/Dp = 6λ/Dp
Ap = 6λVp /Dp
λ=q/p is a shape factor. It has been found experimentally
for example
Example :
In an analysis of ground salt using Tyler sieves, it was found
that 38% of the total salt passed through a 7-mesh sieve and was
caught on a 9-mesh sieve. For one of the finer fractions, 5%
passed an 80-mesh sieve but was retained on a 115-mesh sieve.
Estimate the surface areas of these two fractions in a 5 kg
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sample of the salt, if the density of salt is 1050 kg/m3 and the
shape factor is 1.75.
Aperture of Tyler sieves,
7 mesh = 2.83 mm
9 mesh = 2.00 mm
80 mesh = 0.177 mm
115 mesh = 0.125 mm .
Solution:
Mean aperture 7 and 9 mesh = 2.41 mm = 2.4 x 10-3m
Mean aperture 80 and 115 mesh = 0.151 mm = 0.151 x 10-3m
At = (6 x 1.75 x0.38 x 5)/(1050x 2.41x10-3)
At = 7.88 m2
At = (6 x 1.75x 0.05 x 5)/( 1050 x 0.151x10-3)
At = 16.6 m2.
Emulsification
Emulsions are stable suspensions of one liquid in another,
the liquids being immiscible. Stability of the emulsion is
obtained by dispersion of very fine droplets of one liquid, called
the disperse phase, through the other liquid, which is called
the continuous phase. The emulsion is stable when it can
persist without change, for long periods of time, without the
droplets of the disperse phase coalescing with each other, or
rising or settling. The stability of an emulsion is controlled by
interfacial surface forces,
size of the disperse phase droplets,
viscous properties of the continuous phase and
density difference between the two phases.
The dispersed particles in the emulsion have a very large surface
area, which is created in the process of emulsification. Surface
effects depend upon the properties of the materials of the two
phases, but very often a third component is added which is
absorbed at the interface and which helps to prevent the droplets
from coalescing. These added materials are called emulsifying
agents and examples are phosphates and glycerol monostearate.
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Stokes' Law gives a qualitative indication of the physical factors
that influence the stability of an emulsion. This is because the
relative flow of the particles under gravitational forces may
break the emulsion, so stability is enhanced by small settling
velocities. From eqn.
v = D2g(ρc – ρd)/18µc
where:
v: settling velocity
D:drops diameter
g : specific gravity
ρc , ρd :densities for continuous and dispersed face
µc: viscosity of continuous face.
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